Men's Volleyball Suffers First Loss Falling to No. 9 Philadelphia Biblical

1/27/2010 12:00:00 AM

HOBOKEN, N.J. (January 27, 2010) – Despite a team-high 13 kills from junior outside hitter Jonathan Landis the Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team dropped its first match of the 2010 season, falling to No. 9 Philadelphia Biblical University, 3-0 (30-28, 30-22, 30-28), at Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. The fourth-ranked Ducks are now 4-1 on the young season, while the Crimson Eagles also improved to 4-1 on the year.

Senior Christopher Egebo and junior SteFan PremDas each finished with nine kills, while junior middle hitter Timothy Karl added eight kills and five blocks. Junior co-captain Brandt Grobeis dished out 40 assists in the loss, while junior libero Aaron Ostrovsky collected 13 digs.

PBU junior outside hitter Justin Brubaker (Telford, Pa.) hammered home a match-high 25 kills while adding a team-high 12 digs to lead the Crimson Eagles. Senior outside hitter Leandro Dueck (Lititz, Pa.) added 11 kills and eight digs, while junior setter Drew Dillon (Mount Joy, Pa.) finished with a match-high 43 assists.

The Ducks will look to rebound against the College of Mount Saint Vincent on February 1.

Set 1
Down 3-1 following Landis service ace, Brubaker registered back-to-back kills to pull the Crimson Eagles even.

The teams would trade points over the next few minutes of action before freshman Noah Prickett (Yardley, Pa.) gave PBU its first lead of the set at 9-8. Egebo quickly tied the game at nine with his second kill of the afternoon, kick-starting an 8-2 Ducks' rally that made it 16-11.

A Brubaker kill coupled with a Prickett service ace trimmed the margin to three, but a Karl kill on the ensuing play upped the Stevens' margin to four at 17-13.

Three-straight Stevens errors pared the margin to one, before a PremDas score and PBU attack error once again gave the Ducks a three-point cushion. Undaunted, the Crimson Eagles reeled off six-consecutive points to take a 22-19 lead.

Landis ended the Stevens' dry-spell with a kill, making it 22-20 before another PBU error trimmed the margin to one. Still down one at 26-25, Egebo registered a kill to tie the game, forcing a Crimson Eagle timeout.

With the set still tied at 28, Stevens committed an error to give PBU a slim edge before a Prickett kill closed out the first set, 30-28.

Set 2
The Crimson Eagles raced out to an early 4-1 lead in the second set, thanks in part to a pair of Dueck kills to begin the frame. Stevens fired back however, quickly cutting a 10-5 deficit to two with a 5-2 run, capped off by an Egebo tally.

PBU responded by mounting a 7-1 run of their own to take a 19-11 advantage. The Ducks would notch three of the set's next four points to cut it to six, but the Crimson Eagles outscored their Stevens' counterparts, 10-8 down the stretch, taking a two set lead on a Brubaker kill.

Set 3
The Crimson Eagles again took a 4-1 lead in the third and final set, but the Ducks slowly battled back, beginning with a PremDas kill, to knot the set at nine. A Prickett score followed by a Brubaker tally put PBU up 11-9, but a 7-4 Stevens rally, capped off by another PremDas spike, gave the Ducks a 17-14 edge.

Brubaker then registered a kill on two of the set's next three points to once again pull the Crimson Eagles even, but a PBU service error followed by a Bryant DeFranco ace helped Stevens regain a 19-17 lead. Still ahead by two at 21-19, the Ducks surrendered the match's next two points on back-to-back kills by senior middle hitter Cory Ermold (Boyertown, Pa.) and Brubaker, which tied the set at 21.

With the set still knotted at 25 after a PremDas kill, Brubaker took over, scoring kills on five of the set's next six points to lead the Crimson Eagles to the upset win.
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